Opinion + Sir Menzies Campbell | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+politics/sirmenziescampbell
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The conversation: Did the Iraq dossier damage democracy?https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/07/did-iraq-dossier-damage-democracy
It's 10 years since the 'September dossier' built the case for war against Iraq. Two key players, Charles Falconer and Menzies Campbell, discuss its long-term impact<p>This month sees the 10th&nbsp;anniversary of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/12/iraq-dossier-case-for-war" title="">September dossier</a>, which formed the backbone of the case for the Iraq war. Sir Menzies Campbell was one of the&nbsp;few prominent politicians at the time to argue against intervention, while Lord Falconer, who was in the cabinet, became a supporter. So how do they reflect on the events of 10 years ago? Oliver Laughland chairs.</p><p><strong>Menzies Campbell:</strong> The Liberal Democrat conference was taking place in Brighton but Charles Kennedy and I returned to the Commons because it had been recalled. We were sent a copy of the dossier and Charles handed it to me on the train. If you get something like that put in front of you, which appears authoritative, the likelihood is that you will accept it at face value. I almost certainly did. But I had always argued that regime change, which was clearly what the Amercians wanted, was illegal under article two of the UN charter. So we were [already] taking a very strong legal stance. What we said effectively was that we had seen this dossier but it didn't really change our position.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/07/did-iraq-dossier-damage-democracy">Continue reading...</a>IraqSir Menzies CampbellPoliticsUK newsMiddle East and North AfricaWorld newsCharles Falconer, Lord Falconer of ThorotonFri, 07 Sep 2012 20:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/07/did-iraq-dossier-damage-democracyPhotograph: Martin Argles/GuardianMenzies Campbell and Charles Falconer discuss the political legacy of the 2003 dossier on Iraq. Photograph: Martin Argles for the GuardianPhotograph: Martin Argles/GuardianMenzies Campbell and Charles Falconer discuss the political legacy of the 2003 dossier on Iraq. Photograph: Martin Argles for the GuardianOliver Laughland2012-09-07T20:00:00ZLiberal Democrat conference 2011: Marriages and metaphors - videohttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2011/sep/19/liberal-democrat-conference-2011-video
John Harris wades through marches, metaphors, ministers and members to decipher the mood at this year's Liberal Democrat party conference. He speaks to Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson, Menzies 'Ming' Campbell, Vince Cable and various other conference-goers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2011/sep/19/liberal-democrat-conference-2011-video">Continue reading...</a>Liberal Democrat conference 2011PoliticsLiberal DemocratsLiberal Democrat conferenceVince CableSir Menzies CampbellMon, 19 Sep 2011 11:26:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2011/sep/19/liberal-democrat-conference-2011-videoJohn Harris and John Domokos2011-09-19T11:26:00ZSo farewell 2011, a year of Liberal lemmings and robotic dancing | David Mitchellhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jan/02/david-mitchell-lib-dems-toby-young-bbc-strictly
2011 wasn't very eventful, apart from a mass suicide by Lib Dem MPs<p>Only a fool would describe 2011, the year that has just expired, as an eventful one. Perhaps the most notable thing about it was that nothing at all happened in May. An uncanny confluence of political inaction, celebrity marital stability and seasonally average weather left the papers without anything to report but their own lack of inspiration. Few will forget the <em>Independent</em>'s brave, but as it turned out commercially unsuccessful, "See Yesterday" edition.</p><p>Nevertheless, some events did occur. It's not for me to comment on serious matters – the sudden disappearance of all wasps or the eye-wateringly pointless 3D episode of <em>Coronation Street </em>– but, as we limp out of one stagnant year into the next, I'll take a moment to remember some lighter stories of the past 12 months.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jan/02/david-mitchell-lib-dems-toby-young-bbc-strictly">Continue reading...</a>Liberal DemocratsPoliticsSir Menzies CampbellStephen HawkingMerlinTelevisionSun, 02 Jan 2011 00:03:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jan/02/david-mitchell-lib-dems-toby-young-bbc-strictlyDavid Mitchell2011-01-02T00:03:07ZLib Dem conference: A bad case of the blues? | Videohttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2010/sep/20/liberal-democrat-conference-john-harris
With protesters campaigning against the coalition government's cuts, John Harris tests the mood at the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2010/sep/20/liberal-democrat-conference-john-harris">Continue reading...</a>Liberal Democrat conferenceVince CableSimon HughesSir Menzies CampbellLiberal DemocratsPoliticsUK newsMon, 20 Sep 2010 12:49:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2010/sep/20/liberal-democrat-conference-john-harrisJohn Harris and John Domokos2010-09-20T12:49:00ZScrapping Trident is a vote winner | Kate Hudsonhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/07/trident-nuclear-policy-public-opinion
None of the parties grasp the majority of voters are unwilling to squander taxpayers' money on a weapon of mass destruction<p>Last summer Nick Clegg broke with long-standing main party consensus by announcing that the Liberal Democrats <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/jun/16/trident-liberal-democrats-nick-clegg" title="Guardian: Nick Clegg says Lib Dems won't replace Trident because world has moved on">did not support</a> a like-for-like replacement for Britain's <a href="http://www.cnduk.org/trident" title="CND: No to Trident">Trident</a> nuclear weapons system. This came amid serious concerns from across the political spectrum that the cost of Trident was too high and could not be justified. As the country faces economic crisis, swingeing public spending cuts and a massive public debt, this was – and still is – a key question. The opportunity cost of spending over <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/sep/21/military.armstrade" title="Guardian: New Trident system may cost £76bn, figures show ">£76bn on a replacement for Trident</a> is considerable, not to mention the billions spent every year on the existing system.</p><p>Of course, Clegg's statement begged the question – did he want any other form of nuclear weapons if he only opposed a like-for-like replacement? In order to answer that, he sent Sir Menzies Campbell away to conduct a review. Nine months later, Campbell has <a href="http://www.libdems.org.uk/siteFiles/resources/PDF/Trident%20Review_March2010.pdf" title="Liberal Democrats: Trident review 2010">now reported</a>. Unfortunately no clear position has been revealed, so voters won't know if the Lib Dems back nukes or not. The key recommendation from the review is that the question should be reviewed again as part of the strategic defence review (SDR). That is all well and good, as neither Labour nor Conservative leaders <a href="http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=39104&amp;SESSION=899" title="Early Day Motion: Strategic Defence Review">plan to include Trident</a> in the SDR. But nine months seems a long time for a review to conclude that a further review is necessary.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/07/trident-nuclear-policy-public-opinion">Continue reading...</a>TridentNuclear weaponsDefence policyGeneral election 2010Sir Menzies CampbellLiberal DemocratsConservativesLabourUK newsPoliticsWed, 07 Apr 2010 17:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/07/trident-nuclear-policy-public-opinionPhotograph: Lt. Stuart Antrobus/EPALord Owen suggests abandoning Trident and instead equipping cruise missiles with nuclear warheads. Photograph: Lt. Stuart Antrobus/EPAPhotograph: Lt. Stuart Antrobus/EPALord Owen suggests abandoning Trident and instead equipping cruise missiles with nuclear warheads. Photograph: Lt. Stuart Antrobus/EPAKate Hudson2010-04-07T17:00:00ZKelly's irrational expenses rules are set only to appease | Roy Hattersleyhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/28/kellys-irrational-expenses-rules-appease
MPs will have no choice but to accept this regime. Yet many proposals owe more to populist clamour than justice or objectivity<p><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/oct/28/mps-expenses-second-home-mortgage" title="Sir Christopher Kelly's revised expenses rules ">Sir Christopher Kelly's revised expenses rules </a>will be accepted by the House of Commons. Members of parliament who wish to retain their seats – and the party leaders who compete with them for the title of Purest of Them All – have no choice but to kiss the lash. The mood of the country allows nothing else. It is the price that the honest and hard-working majority have to pay for the excesses of their colleagues who exploited the system in a way which was part scandal and part farce.</p><p>But that does not require the pretence that all the new proposals are either right or reasonable. They are a response to the populist clamour that the exposure of previous excesses – right and necessary though it was – created.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/28/kellys-irrational-expenses-rules-appease">Continue reading...</a>MPs' expensesHouse of CommonsPoliticsUK newsDavid CameronSocietySir Menzies CampbellAlan DuncanWed, 28 Oct 2009 22:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/28/kellys-irrational-expenses-rules-appeaseRoy Hattersley2009-10-28T22:00:01ZElevated Cablehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/dec/01/elevatedcable
The Lib Dems will thank their shrewd Treasury spokesman for ruling himself out of the party's leadership race<p>Anyone who <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/story/0,,2219657,00.html">suggests</a> Vincent Cable should be the permanent leader of the Liberal Democrats is either kidding themselves or mischief-making.</p><p>True, the party's Treasury spokesman has performed with impressive maturity and aptitude in parliament during his seven-week tenure as acting leader - though Wednesday's "Mr Bean" gag showed that he is not beneath inflicting the odd cheap, painful one-liner.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/dec/01/elevatedcable">Continue reading...</a>Liberal DemocratsSir Menzies CampbellCharles KennedySat, 01 Dec 2007 11:00:37 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/dec/01/elevatedcablePaul Owen2007-12-01T11:00:37ZTeam Clegg is losing momentumhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/31/teamcleggislosingmomentum
It's time Nick Clegg moved out of his comfort zone and began spelling out exactly what his leadership would do differently.<p>So which is it to be? Chris Huhne or Nick Clegg? Two weeks after Sir Menzies Campbell's resignation I remain firmly undecided.</p><p>At first, while I felt loyalty towards Chris Huhne - having supported him last time and feeling that subsequent events vindicated my decision - my instincts were telling me that Nick Clegg was the right choice. This was for both positive and negative reasons. The positive reason is that Clegg is clearly bright, energetic and articulate. On the stump, in the studio and in print he is consistently excellent and you would have to be a fool not to appreciate his obvious talents.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/31/teamcleggislosingmomentum">Continue reading...</a>Liberal DemocratsChris HuhneSir Menzies CampbellWed, 31 Oct 2007 17:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/31/teamcleggislosingmomentumJames Graham2007-10-31T17:30:00ZJackie Ashley: The way we treat the old is both disgraceful and stupidhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/22/comment.liberaldemocrats
The idea that Menzies Campbell was fair game for abuse because he was in his 60s is a product of pernicious prejudice<p>It took the youngest MP in the House of Commons, Jo Swinson, who's just 27, to point out that the abuse Ming suffered "wouldn't be tolerated on the basis of gender, race or disability, but when it comes to age it's fair game". She's right. Imagine how you would feel if you opened the paper and found a black television star being drawn with a bone through his nose and an assegai in one hand? Or witty columnar references to a blind man needing a white stick to find his way round some issue or other; or heard that an openly gay MP faced shouts of "Where's your handbag, ducky?" when he stood up in the Commons? I assume you would be repelled, surprised, disgusted. And rightly so.</p><p>However much it's sneered at, "political correctness"- plus anti-discrimination legislation - has softened some of the rougher edges of modern life. In a complicated, many-coloured, multi-religion society, which believes in doing something to redress general imbalances of power, old prejudices are constantly challenged and changing. People have the right not to be refused work because of the colour of their skin, or the faith they were born into; people using wheelchairs expect to be able to use buses and restaurants and loos; people born gay demand to be treated with respect. Yet all these expectations and social rights are quite new. In 1950s Britain, they would have seemed, in varying degrees, a bit odd, a bit pushy.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/22/comment.liberaldemocrats">Continue reading...</a>Liberal DemocratsPoliticsUK newsSir Menzies CampbellMon, 22 Oct 2007 12:20:22 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/22/comment.liberaldemocratsJackie Ashley2007-10-22T12:20:22ZA timely exithttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/19/atimelyexit
Thanks to Ming Campbell, Gordon Brown will be able to walk away from his week from hell with just a gentle toasting.<p>It may not feel like it, but things are looking up for Gordon Brown. And before anybody suggests things could hardly have got any worse, think again. His week from hell was just a gentle toasting compared to the full heat of a genuine political crisis. His reputation suffered a nasty singe or two but nothing more terminal than that, and the "Blairites" who leapt in with dire warnings at the first whiff of smoke should have known better.</p><p>Since then two things have happened. The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/eu/story/0,,2193415,00.html">European treaty</a> and the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/frontpage/story/0,,2192060,00.html">abrupt end</a> of the Ming Dynasty have taken centre stage. Both may look like threats to Mr Brown, but are actually welcome opportunities.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/19/atimelyexit">Continue reading...</a>Sir Menzies CampbellGordon BrownLiberal DemocratsWorld newsEuropean UnionPoliticsConservativesWilliam HagueDavid CameronChris HuhneFri, 19 Oct 2007 09:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/19/atimelyexitLance Price2007-10-19T09:30:00ZChris has the cojoneshttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/18/chrishasthecojones
Nick Clegg is great, but Liberal Democrats need someone to offer a radical challenge to the current consensus. Huhne is the man for the job.<p>Well - here we go again! It feels a bit deja vu as the establishment swings in behind their chosen candidate, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/story/0,,2193510,00.html">Paddy Ashdown</a> being the latest. Only to be expected! Last time it was Ming, and this time it's Nick Clegg - and once again, I go in the opposite direction.</p><p>Don't get me wrong. I adore Nick. I worked as his number two in home affairs for a year and a half after the last leadership election, and we get on brilliantly. If he wins this contest he will - as they say - have my full support. Lib Dems are in a win/win situation. But given that a girl's got to choose, I am going hell for leather to get Chris Huhne elected as leader.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/18/chrishasthecojones">Continue reading...</a>Liberal DemocratsChris HuhnePoliticsSir Menzies CampbellUK newsThu, 18 Oct 2007 14:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/18/chrishasthecojonesLynne Featherstone2007-10-18T14:00:00ZWhat Ming did for ushttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/17/whatmingdidforus
Sir Menzies Campbell can step down secure in the knowledge that he provided stability and strength when the Lib Dems needed it most.<p>People will readily tell you that the stuff of politics in Britain has changed in recent years to favour image, soundbites and spin; that it is now a game for the young, where a good visual gimmick on the six o'clock news means more than a well considered policy memorandum; and where opinion polls actually determine the fate of parties, rather than reflect them. Ming Campbell showed this country that, despite these conceptions, there is still room in British politics for statesmanship, gravitas and depth.</p><p>Ming came to power at a time of great <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1680564,00.html">turbulence</a> in the Liberal Democrats following the departure of Charles Kennedy and a leadership campaign beset by embarrassment and division. It was possible to see the kind of leader that he would later become during the brief interregnum when he held the reins until the party could vote in a successor for Charles. At that time the party was languishing in the polls and was criticised and derided from all quarters. Ming ensured that regardless of this, the party would stay united and focused on continuing to offer voters a real and credible alternative.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/17/whatmingdidforus">Continue reading...</a>Sir Menzies CampbellLiberal DemocratsCharles KennedyWed, 17 Oct 2007 09:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/17/whatmingdidforusAlex Cole-Hamilton2007-10-17T09:00:00ZWestminster's fatal flawhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/17/westminstersfatalflaw
The Lib Dem leadership battle demonstrates the colour of Westminster's 'new' young politics: it's still white, male, middle-class and lifeless.<p>Looking at the Lib Dems lining up to praise Menzies Campbell even as they <a href="http://politics.theguardian.com/libdems/story/0,,2191673,00.html">bury</a> him and initiate their own bid for the <a href="http://politics.theguardian.com/libdems/story/0,,2192258,00.html">leadership</a>, the fatal flaw in Westminster politics is revealed yet again. How can you have "<a href="http://commentisfree.theguardian.com/vox_pop/2007/10/can_you_see_it.html">vision</a>" that connects with even a portion of the electorate when you are drawing on such a small, unrepresentative group of society?</p><p>Watch the television today as the Lib Dem soap opera continues. What do you see? White, grey, middle aged and older men, suited and booted - is that really a cross section of Lib Dem Britain - or any kind of Britain - today?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/17/westminstersfatalflaw">Continue reading...</a>Sir Menzies CampbellLiberal DemocratsFilmDavid CameronWed, 17 Oct 2007 07:30:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/17/westminstersfatalflawYvonne Roberts2007-10-17T07:30:04ZIt has to be Nick Clegghttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/16/ithastobenickclegg
The Lib Dems will think first about self-preservation, which is why their next leader will be this pretty, glossy, Cameron-era politician.<p>I nearly killed a radio this morning. It wasn't my fault, it was Paddy Ashdown's. He was asked two things. First, was it right for Ming Campbell to go? Second, who should take over? At inordinate length, he refused to reply. One shoe was off, and in my hand before the moment passed.</p><p>So what are the answers? I like Sir Menzies, and always have; but it was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/story/0,,2192077,00.html">right for him to </a><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2192008,00.html">go</a>, not because Simon Hughes or Vince Cable were being nasty, but because the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,,2189706,00.html">polls</a> gave him deadly information. Second, by far the likeliest person to take over is Nick Clegg, and for just the same reason. Let me explain.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/16/ithastobenickclegg">Continue reading...</a>Liberal DemocratsChris HuhneSir Menzies CampbellTue, 16 Oct 2007 15:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/16/ithastobenickcleggJackie Ashley2007-10-16T15:30:00ZAge before beautyhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/16/agebeforebeauty
If they just thought they needed someone younger, the Lib Dems have made a horrible mistake. Politics doesn't work like that.<p>As we fished about for our teeth and took off our hairnets, lots of us fiftysomethings will have had a sympathetic groan for the 66-year-old Sir Ming Campbell. To be brutally dismissed from a job you love just because you are old is a cruel business, and according to <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article346749.ece">the Sun</a>, (prop: R Murdoch, 76 next month) that's why he had to go.</p><p>I'm not sure the Sun has got it right. While discrimination on the grounds of age is as hard to prove as discrimination on any other grounds, I fear Ming's age was a problem to his minders rather than to the rest of us.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/16/agebeforebeauty">Continue reading...</a>Liberal DemocratsSir Menzies CampbellInequalitySocial exclusionYoung peopleTue, 16 Oct 2007 11:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/16/agebeforebeautyAnne Perkins2007-10-16T11:30:00ZLiberal to the corehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/16/liberaltothecore
Menzies Campbell had the authority to bring his party together - and his successor will thank him for that legacy.<p><a href="http://politics.theguardian.com/libdems/story/0,,2192059,00.html">Menzies Campbell</a> could have made a good career for himself in a Labour or Conservative cabinet. He chose not to because, quite simply, he is a Liberal to the core.</p><p>With a <a href="http://politics.theguardian.com/libdems/story/0,,2192040,00.html">distinguished career</a> as an Olympic athlete and as a top lawyer who could have been a judge, he fought no fewer than five parliamentary elections before he was finally elected as the MP for North East Fife in 1977.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/16/liberaltothecore">Continue reading...</a>Sir Menzies CampbellLiberal DemocratsTue, 16 Oct 2007 08:32:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/16/liberaltothecoreMalcolm Bruce2007-10-16T08:32:30ZFinding a centre in the centrehttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/15/findingacentreinthecentre
We've had the 'safe pair of hands'. What must follow Ming is a leader bold enough to redefine what the Liberal Democrats stand for.<p>For me, the most bizarre thing about Ming's <a href="http://politics.theguardian.com/libdems/story/0,,2191673,00.html">tenure</a> as leader is that he made me into a loyalist. Much of my time in the Liberal Democrats has been spent challenging the wisdom of the party hierarchy, yet, for the best part of the last year, I've found myself defending a leader about whom, it's fair to say, I <a href="http://www.theliberati.net/quaequamblog/2006/02/25/what-will-happen-if-mr-angry-wins-2/">had</a> significant misgivings.</p><p>Why defend him? Because, despite the fact that I remained uninspired, I was very conscious of the underlying problems at the heart of the party which were not his fault. He had a mandate that had to be respected. Many of Ming's promises failed to transpire, notably when it came to <a href="http://www.libdemvoice.org/opinion-is-diversity-worth-paying-for-1001.html">improving</a> the party's ethnic diversity and gender balance, but this was because it would entail having a fight within the party that he had no clear guarantee of winning.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/15/findingacentreinthecentre">Continue reading...</a>Sir Menzies CampbellLiberal DemocratsDavid CameronMon, 15 Oct 2007 19:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/15/findingacentreinthecentreJames Graham2007-10-15T19:30:00ZHow to walk tallhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/15/howtowalktall
Squeezed between a re-energised Labour party and a revived liberal Tory party, whoever is the new Lib Dem leader has a tough job.<p>Nothing in his short period as leader of the Liberal Democrats became Sir Menzies Campbell like the <a href="http://politics.theguardian.com/libdems/story/0,,2191673,00.html">leaving of it</a>. He went suddenly, quickly and quietly. Whatever else his party thinks of his time as leader, they will surely thank him for acting decisively. Campbell will be his party's instant hero and elder statesman. If he wants to resume his old role as foreign affairs spokesman, the job will be his by acclamation. And he might be happier too.</p><p>It is easy to say Campbell wasn't really up to the job. But his failure is not primarily his own fault. In the short run it was Gordon Brown who brought Campbell down. But it in the long run it was David Cameron who forced tonight's resignation.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/15/howtowalktall">Continue reading...</a>Liberal DemocratsSir Menzies CampbellPoliticsChris HuhneLabourConservativesMon, 15 Oct 2007 19:00:30 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/15/howtowalktallMartin Kettle2007-10-15T19:00:30ZThe fight for survivalhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/15/thefightforsurvival
Some Lib Dems may be calling for a new leader, but the party's problems predate Ming. To improve, we must change some of our core policies.<p>Loyalty, schmoyalty. When such a stalwart figure as Paul Walter <a href="http://paulwalter.blogspot.com/2007/10/and-so-as-vanquished-charwoman-of-time.html">calls for Ming's head</a>, you can no longer deny the party leader is in trouble. When the history books are written, this should be noted as the point at which the debate over <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/guardianpolitics/story/0,,2191143,00.html">Ming's future</a> went beyond "idle chatter" and became a matter of life or death.</p><p>Regardless of whether this whole debate has been manufactured by our political opponents and the media, Sir Menzies must now kill the debate quickly or be killed himself. He clearly can't expect the sort of respectful treatment that he and his colleagues gave <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1681503,00.html">Charles Kennedy</a>, allowing what was in retrospect an unsustainable situation to go on for years.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/15/thefightforsurvival">Continue reading...</a>Liberal DemocratsSir Menzies CampbellMon, 15 Oct 2007 16:00:59 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/15/thefightforsurvivalJames Graham2007-10-15T16:00:59ZIt needs to be fixedhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/08/itneedstobefixed
The pickle the prime minister got himself in over whether to call an election perfectly illustrates why Britain must have fixed-term governments.<p>After weeks of intense election speculation, Gordon Brown has finally <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/Observer/uk_news/story/0,,2185394,00.html">ruled out</a> holding a general election. The media is rightly suggesting that his indecision - and subsequent loss of nerve - will have <a href="http://politics.theguardian.com/labour/story/0,,2186302,00.html">damaged</a> his reputation in the long term. But it is also clear to me that the circumstances surrounding that decision have shown the need for a change in the way election dates are set.</p><p>The prime minister has spent the summer recess scouring the opinion polls and weighing up his chances of winning an immediate election campaign. In making that assessment, the interests of the Labour party have taken precedence over the interests of the country.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/08/itneedstobefixed">Continue reading...</a>Sir Menzies CampbellGordon BrownLabourLiberal DemocratsMon, 08 Oct 2007 20:15:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/oct/08/itneedstobefixedCIF Author2007-10-08T20:15:00Z